Long Island Sound
by KawaiiGirl1215
Summary: Annabeth's thoughts when Percy is missing. Drabble. Set before The Lost Hero.


Annabeth had to admit, while Percy was gone, she could hardly bear to look at any kind of water. Lakes, rivers, especially the Long Island Sound.

You would've thought she'd _like_ to be next to water. You would've thought that it would remind her of Percy and of her unforgettable underwater kiss.

You thought wrong.

As Annabeth grudgingly filled her role of being lookout in capture-the-flag at the edge of the woods, she hesitantly looked over her shoulder at the wide expanse of water behind her and was reminded yet again why exactly water didn't fill her with happy memories.

Grief and anxiety surged up within her, and she fought to hold back tears. After all that had happened, you'd think they deserved a little break. _She_ deserved a little break.

Here she was, probably the laughingstock of the demigods, having fought _so hard_ only to realize the reward was more fighting.

She could almost imagine Zeus flipping through channels on TV until he found hers.

"Oh, here's the one with Annabeth Chase! You remember her, the one with the soap-opera life?"

"Of course," Aphrodite would croon. "I made her love life a living hell once, oh, those were the good old days!" Hera would smirk knowingly and flop down on the couch next to them.

Percy was practically her life. She didn't mean to sound like some obsessive girlfriend, but it was true. But over the years, she'd come to rely on him, and now she felt like a patient whose life support had been ripped from her.

So here she was, acting like the Annabeth that no one knew, the one she had kept buried down all those years.

The scared little girl.

They couldn't even trust her to play capture-the-flag properly. So she'd succumbed to the role of… guard. The person whose job was to alert the others if someone was coming near the flag. (People usually saved that role for the slowest runner or some Aphrodite kid.)

She saw how the rest of the camp looked at her. With pity. She heard the whispers.

"Poor Annabeth… Percy's been missing for about a month now… you know him, right? Percy Jackson? He saved the camp from Kronos… you'd think he deserved a break… so does she… I mean, they're the most experienced fighters."

And she _had_ fought hard. She'd endured a pretty screwed up life, but hey, she had gotten the boy. It wasn't all for nothing.

… Or was it?

Sometimes, Annabeth got tired.

Sometimes she wondered if anything would really happen if she just disappeared then and there. (Yes, she knew she was having suicidal thoughts. But you couldn't really blame her.) After all, wouldn't it just be easier to end herself? It would sure save a whole bunch of monsters the trouble.

And come on, everyone knew they were going to die at some point. Whether she would be killed or not didn't matter; it would happen anyway.

So who was anyone to stop her from speeding up the process?

Annabeth shook her head as if she was trying to clear out those thoughts. She couldn't die! Not right now! Not while Percy was still missing!

She needed to remember what she was fighting for. Annabeth had never been one for fairy tales (she'd always preferred myths), but a happy ending had never looked better. And that's what she was fighting for. A happy ending with Percy.

She didn't know if she would ever see him again, but she did know that Percy wasn't dead.

Words couldn't describe them; labels like _boyfriend_ and _girlfriend_ and _BFF_ meant nothing. It was a much deeper connection. Annabeth couldn't explain it. She just knew that if Percy died, she would be able to feel it.

Percy was out there, somewhere. Maybe he was cold and hungry and wished for comfort, but he was out there.

And as long as he was, she _would_ find him.

Nyssa Barrera watched from the bushes as Annabeth (who really should have been guarding the flag; was she really that out of it?) turned away from Long Island Sound to survey the area.

Nyssa gasped. She saw something in Annabeth's eyes that she hadn't seen for a long time.

Hope.

Right at that moment, Annabeth's eyes found Nyssa's.

She blinked and protested, "Hey!"

Nyssa grinned. She got up and said, "Welcome back, Annabeth!" Right before she dashed off with the flag.

It didn't even take Annabeth two seconds to smile, murmur, "Thanks," and bolt after her.


End file.
